Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • PC Hardware

    IBM Completes Rational Acquisition

    By
    Darryl K. Taft
    -
    February 21, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      IBM announced the completion of its $2.1 billion acquisition of Rational Software Corp. Friday, making Rational an IBM brand.

      The deal, made official at the close of the market Thursday and announced before the market opened Friday, makes Rational the fifth brand in the IBM Software Group, next to WebSphere, DB2, Lotus and Tivoli, the company said.

      IBM and Rational initially announced the acquisition on Dec. 6, 2002. Rational shareholders approved the deal in January, and government approval came earlier this week.

      Rational sells a variety of tools that support software development throughout the application lifecycle, from design and modeling to testing to quality assurance to software configuration management and maintenance. The company is known as a pioneer in the area of modeling and promoting the Unified Modeling Language (UML).

      Bill Hoffman, president of the Object Management Group (OMG), the Needham, Mass.-based standards body that created and manages the UML specification, said IBMs acquisition of Rational “certainly creates more visibility and further validates the importance of modeling.”

      Brian Lyons, chief technology officer and co-founder of Number Six Software Inc., an Arlington, Va., software development company and Rational partner, said: “As a company that is a recognized expert in Rational tools, processes and techniques, were excited about this move. Were excited about anything that puts those tools, processes and techniques into the mainstream.” Number Six is a gold-level member of the Rational Business Alliance Program.

      Zohar Gilad, vice president of products at Mercury Interactive Corp., in Sunnyvale, Calif., which competes with Rational in the testing tools space, said he does not expect IBMs acquisition of the company to mean very much in the testing arena.

      “My experience is that whenever a competitor was acquired, it was to our benefit; it usually diverts the focus. It will probably have no impact on us,” Gilad said of the IBM/Rational deal. “IBM bought Rational not for testing tools, but for application development tools to compete with Microsoft.”

      But analysts say competing with Microsoft might not be so easy without delivering tools that are easy to use.

      “The greatest challenge facing IBMs tools strategy is ease of use,” said Jason Bloomberg, an analyst with ZapThink LLC, a Cambridge, Mass., market research firm.

      “Visual Basic .Net is winning the usability battle, actually attracting Java developers to .Net. IBMs WSAD [WebSphere Studio Application Developer], on the other hand, is a difficult tool to use, and Rationals tools, including the XKE and ClearCase, are also a challenge to learn and use. IBM now has a comprehensive tools offering, but they will continue to lose ground to Microsoft if they dont improve usability.”

      Rational has customers in 89 countries and more than 3,400 employees and more than 600,000 developers using its tools, IBM officials said.

      Rationals former CEO, Mike Devlin, will serve as general manager of IBMs Rational division, and he will report to Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive of IBM Software.

      Darryl K. Taft
      Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×